HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Paul Figg-Presentation to City CommissionCity of Miami
City Commission Meeting - July 29, 2016
Agenda Item: PH.5, 16-00821
Issue: Whether the Battersea Woods Plat must go through the warrant process because it
includes portions of Lots 18 and 19 of Block 2, of Coconut Grove Manor.
Relevant Facts: The Battersea Woods Plat contains the northerly 13 feet of Lots 18 and 19 of
Block 2, of Coconut Grove Manor, which was platted in 1925 and approved by the City of Coral
Gables and City of Coconut Grove. Lots 18 and 19 of Block 2, of Coconut Grove Manor were
were primarily in the City of Coral Gables, except for the northerly 13 feet of Lot 18 and 19 (the
"Lot 18 Remnant", "Lot 19 Remnant" or the "Remnants"), which were in City of Coconut Grove.
In 1931, the City of Miami subsumed the City of Coconut Grove. The Remnants were thus
annexed into the City of Miami. None of the land or area within Battersea Woods Plat, including
the Remnants, has ever been platted in Miami or by the City of Miami.
Executive Summary: Section 3.6.g.1 creates a warrant requirement only under the following
circumstances:
1. Land is subdivided to create multiple Lots, each of which comprises a building site;
2. those individual Lots (or portions thereof) are combined to form a single building site;
3. a single-family residence or lawful accessory building(s) or structure(s) is built on the
single building site; and then,
4. someone tries to subdivide the resulting single family residential site.
The warrant process is designed to address these concerns. The inclusion of Lots 18 and 19
within the Battersea Woods T-Plat does not trigger the warrant requirement because there is no
single family residential site within the City of Miami that is being diminished in size.
Specifically:
1. The Remnants do not constitute Lots as defined under the Code and Miami 21, which
apply exclusively within the City of Miami, because those Remnants were never
intended as a single building site.
2. The Battersea Woods Plat is not attempting to diminish an existing building site within
the City of Miami, and Miami 21 specifically prohibits looking outside the City to find a
building site.
3. The Remnants do not contain an existing single-family residence or lawful accessory
building(s) or structure(s).
Miami 21 is not concerned with the diminishment of an existing building site in the City of Coral
Gables. Miami 21 is concerned with the preservation of the character of the T3 transect and
Coconut Grove Neighborhood Conservation District NCD-3, which are both entirely within the
City of Miami. The inclusion of the Remnants in the Battersea Woods Plat places the Remnants
within the City's effective jurisdiction again instead of under the City of Coral Gables. This does
not trigger the warrant requirement.
Submitted into the public
record for item(s) P{-i. 5
on 7J2q//(o , City Clerk
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Submitted into the public
record f r item(s) Pf-(.5
on 7/Z9//lv . City Clerk
Analysis:
Miami 21
Section 2.2.1.3 — Miami 21 applies to all lands within the area of the City of Miami.
Section 3.6.g.1 of, states:
Wherever an existing single-family residence or lawful accessory
building(s) or structure(s) is located on one or more platted Tots
or portions thereof, such lots shall thereafter constitute only one
building site and no permit shall be issued for the construction of
more than one single-family residence except by Warrant. Such
structures shall include but not be limited to swimming pools,
tennis courts, walls, and fences or other at grade or above ground
improvements. No building sites in existence prior to September
24, 2005 shall be diminished in size except by Warrant, subject to
the criteria specified in Article 4, Table 12 Design Review Criteria.
(emphasis added). Section 1.2 defines a Lot as follows:
Lot: A Lot is any individual Lot, tract or parcel of land, intended as
a single Building site or unit, having an assigned number or
numbers, letter or letters, or other name through which it may be
identified for development purposes. A Lot may also be any
combination of Lots, tracts, parcels or other areas of land
established by acceptable legal joinder, delineated by a closed
boundary and assigned a number, letter or other name through
which it may be identified, intended as a single unit for
development purposes.
Section 3.6.g.1 applies only to the pieces of land within the regulatory jurisdiction of the City of
Miami. Section 3.6.g.1 requires diminishment of an existing single-family residence or lawful
accessory building(s) or structure(s) located on one or more platted lots or portions thereof in
the City of Miami. The Remnants contain no single-family residence or lawful accessory
building(s) or structure(s). Section 3.6.g.1 cannot look at all of Lot 18 or 19, because the City of
Miami has not power to limit the vast majority of Lots 18 and 19 to a single building site. This
construction is confirmed by the definition of building site set forth in Section 3.6.c., which
states: "For the purpose of this section, a building site shall be defined as one or more lots or
portions of lots that are aggregated to form a single family residential site including vacant Tots
and all permissible accessory uses and structures. Building sites shall not include any portions
of land under a different zoning transect." (emphasis added). The Remnants are within the T3
zoning transect. The remainders of Lots 18 and 19 are not simply outside of the T3 zoning
transect, they are outside the City of Miami's corporate boundaries. For the Remnants to be
considered platted lots or portions thereof under Section 3.6.g.1, they must be Lots as defined
above. To be Lots, the Remnants must be or have been intended to be building sites as
defined above. Section 3.6.c does not allow you to look at the portions of Lots 18 and 19 outside
of the City in determining whether the Lot 18 Remnant or the Lot 19 Remnant is a building site.
You must only look within the boundaries of the Lot 18 Remnant or the Lot 19 Remnant.
Because neither Remnant includes a building site or could have been intended as a single
building site, the Remnants cannot be considered Lots, as defined in Section 1.2. If the
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Remnants are not Lots, they cannot trigger the warrant requirement set forth in Section
3.6.g.1.
The unique nature of the Battersea Woods Plat was created by the City's annexation of the
Remnants. Miami 21 specifically addresses this. Section 2.2.5.4 states:
...Where property previously located outside the City is annexed,
zoning boundaries shall not be construed as moving with City
limits. In such cases, the City may receive and process permit
applications for the property, but no permit shall be issued until the
City Commission shall have rezoned the property to establish its
zoning status and the permit is found to be in accord with the
zoning.
The expressed intent of Miami 21 is that annexation essentially resets development status as if
the property has no status at all. This intent is consistent with the above construction of Section
3.6.g.1. The City zoned the Remnants when it included it within the Zoning Atlas, but the
Remnants have never been platted within the City of Miami.
Submitted into the public
record for item(s) PH-5
on 7/29/i (O . City Clerk
7272223-1